


Welcome to Hotel Hell

by LadyMarianne123



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-13 18:27:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29406213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyMarianne123/pseuds/LadyMarianne123
Summary: One of the most notorious hotels in L.A. is the scene for Decker and Lucifer's latest investigation. Will it be a standard murder - or will there be something more sinister (and supernatural) behind it?
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	1. Murder at the Cecil

**Author's Note:**

> Bored much - so started this story. Hopefully will be able to finish it.

Lucifer leaned against the detective’s car, watching as she and her fellow officers tried to make sense of the oft-times rambling information coming from the pack of homeless that were clustered around the back of the Hotel. He leaned his head back and eyed the structure critically, a frown on his handsome face. So much darkness in one spot, so many ugly memories about one little structure. He wondered, briefly, if Maze would remember the last time they were here...

“Penny for your thoughts” a deep voice rumbled from behind him. Amenadiel, his angelic brother moved effortlessly between the uniformed officers set up to keep the curious public back, waving a friendly hello to a few who recognized him from the few times he’d been at the precinct. He stopped beside his Fallen brother and looked up at the hotel curiously. “Something about this place bothers you?”

“Not bothers, brother. Just old memories coming up that I’d right now rather not deal with.” Lucifer languidly waved a hand at the structure in front of them. “Recognize this place?”

“Should I?”

Lucifer shrugged. “Now that I think about it – no you probably don’t. But I do. It’s the Cecil – home away from home for the downtrodden, the destitute and those with a first class ticket to Hell. I’ve always made a point to check in on this place when I’ve made my periodic escapes to the human world. And every time I have…”

“It’s been worse than the time before” Amenadiel rumbled.

“Close. Though I have to admit – the death of an accountant for a prestigious firm in the hotel is something of a step up from the last few deaths I’ve seen here.”

“Were you here when Richard Ramirez was in residence?” his brother asked, distaste dripping from his lips as he spoke the serial killer’s name.

“Oh that wanker” Lucifer replied dismissively. “Had quite the opinion of himself as I remember. Even tried to curry favor with me by calling out “Hail Satan” as they were leading him away after he was convicted. He died from some disease or other before the state could take his life. Now he’s marinating in a vat of his own fears and horror somewhere in the back end of Hell – just another loser who thought he was better than he was.”

Amenadiel shuddered slightly at his brother’s coldness, memories of what Lucifer had been before this last visit to the mortal realm. “True. But he wasn’t the only one who used this place as a staging ground for his crimes. What about that Austrian in the 1990’s – what was his name again?”

Lucifer squinted for a moment then shrugged. “Oh – Jack something or other. Killed some prostitutes in Austria then proceeded to come here to do the same. The police, at the time, thought he was trying to imitate Ramirez. Truth was he just had a taste for the hunt. He was a little more interesting than the idiot who came before him. Certainly smarter. Even managed to get the LAPD to take him on a ride-along on the pretext of writing an expose on life on the fringe of society. Quite the good con artist. Hung himself in his cell in Austria. His place in Hell is equally painful – but much more interesting.”

“Sorry I asked” Amenadiel muttered. 

“And you know” Lucifer continued, ignoring his brother’s discomfort with the conversation. “It’s not like it was just serial killers that made use of this place. People who believed they had no way out of their sad little existences have taken advantage of the aura of this place to kill themselves in all manner of lurid and interesting ways.”

“Remind me to tell Linda she needs to work on building your empathy towards mankind a little more.”

Chloe chose that moment to break away from her fellow officers and return to her car. She smiled at the dark-skinned angel leaning against her car. “Hey Amenadiel! Didn’t expect to see you today.”

“Just passing” the angel replied with a warm smile. “Luci says you have a case here?”

“Yes – and it just figures it would be in the most social media covered hotel in the city” she sighed. “You know who these things go viral in a heartbeat. People will start jumping to conclusions based on little to no evidence and make finding the truth all that much harder.”

“What’s the truth so far?” Amenadiel asked.

She shrugged. “Victim is John McIntyre, forensic accountant working for the Bradley group. Big investment, hedge fund Management Company run by Don Bradley, from Boston. Family has been in real estate and investments for at least two generations. McIntyre checked into the Stay on Main last night and was found dead in the alley behind the hotel this morning. Not a robbery gone bad - still had his wallet and watch. Which considering where he was found was a minor miracle. Most of the uniforms that work Skid Row were amazed his body hadn't been picked clean before they got there."

The angel stared down at the petite detective with a frown. “Stay on Main?” Amenadiel asked. “I thought this was the Cecil.”

“It is” Lucifer replied in a bored tone. “Someone came up with the brilliant idea to turn part of the hotel in to a more “upper class” establishment while keeping most of the higher floors for their less desirable long term residents.”

“It was an interesting thought” Chloe responded, watching as the Coroner’s techs wheeled the body to a van for transport. “Problem is – everyone uses the same set of elevators so …”

“So you can’t escape the riff-raff who have taken up residence both outside of the hotel and within” Lucifer concluded, his eyes watching the curious milling around the entrance to the alley. Some had that "glow" about them, fiery for those from his former realm of Hell and a few (very few) from Heaven. "Azreal's minions" he thought to himself. "Come to gather up the little lost lambs for dear old Dad."

“So your victim met someone in one of those elevators that wanted to do him harm?” Amenadiel asked, watching his brother's eyes follow various figures as they walked down the street.

“Not sure. Everything is pretty hazy right now. There are dozens of hotels with less dodgy reputations and in better parts of town for this guy to have checked into – why chose the Cecil? Why was he here? Was he meeting someone? Trying to hide from someone?” She shrugged in frustration. “Next stop is his office to see if anyone there knows what he was doing.”

“Does he have relations who might know something?” Amenadiel watched a disheveled, homeless person push his cart of belongings past the gathered police presence, ignoring their warning to stay out of the crime scene. The person was so bundled up, even in this bright, hot California morning, it was almost impossible to tell if they were male or female. Their possessions, a mad mix of clothing, boxes, and broken hardware were piled high on an old shopping cart with a wonky wheel, causing the cart to occasionally veer into the path of oncoming foot traffic. The angel frowned as he watched the figure disappear down the street towards Skid Row. Something about that figure tickled a memory buried deep inside, so deep he couldn’t quite put a finger on what it was.

Chloe turned to watch the homeless individual disappear down the street. “Yes – he has a wife who will meet us at his office. I’ll have Dan do the notifications with her while Lucifer and I see what we can find in his work space.”

Lucifer straightened with a sigh. “Ah well – might as well get on with it. Sooner we get done with this the better.”

Chloe frowned at her partner. “Lucifer – someone died here today. We need to find out why. You know that!”

Lucifer shrugged. “Someone always dies at the Cecil.”


	2. Inside the hotel

Ella looked around the bland hotel room with a jaundiced eye. It was a stark contrast from the elegant entrance to the hotel, with nothing more than a serviceable bed and dresser . "No attached bathroom. Not even a desk and chair" she muttered, looking under the mattes one more time. "No place to hide anything. Kind of a weird dormroom feel to it. Wonder why....?"

A uniformed officer standing just in the doorway peeked inside. "Almost done?"

Ella shrugged. "I guess - not much here. Looks like the guy was traveling light.Still don't get why he picked this place of all the hotels in the city to check into."

The officer shrugged. "Maybe Detective Decker can get his office or his wife to give them a clue. Be glad to get out of here though. Place give me the creeps."

"Yeah - me too. Not sure why though." Ella gave the room a final once-over then packed up her case and headed out the door. "It's a run-down hotel like a lot of the ones I used to drive by in Detroit. Somehow it just doesn't live up to it's "scary" reputation."

"Try walking about the corner" the officer snorted. "You'll see a whole lot of scary out there. Skid row is just down the street and there are some seriously strange people living there. Drug users, prostitutes, homless peole who haven't been on their meds in forever - you name it you'll find it there."

Ella shrugged and stepped out side the door. She cast an inquisitive eye up and down the corridor then looked back at the officer at her side. "Same as any other Skid Row in any other big city. Cities don't do enough for their homeless populations so they have to go somewhere. In L.A. - it's Skid Row. I guess I was expecting..."

"Lady Gaga to stroll down the corridor with a bunch of little vampire kids in tow?" he teased, tacking the crime scene tape across the door to prevent entry. "My kids made me watch that show and frankly it gave me nightmares for weeks."

"Not me - I love a good horror story" she admitted sheepishly. "But you got to admit that this place has a hell of a reputation - no pun intended. And the fact our vic was staying on the same floor as that Canadian woman who died here almost 4 years ago..." She glanced around at the doors, mentally ticking off what she knew about the old case. "I don't think this is the same room but still..."

"I remember that story" the officer replied, walking just a step behind the forensic tech towards the elevators. "I had just joined the force and we were all mobilized to look for her. Then when that elevator video was released everything just got worse."

"I was in Detroit at the time and even we saw it." Ella strained to remember her first sight of the infamous video then shuddered. "My brothers loved playing it for me over and over again just to get a rise out me. It was very spooky."

"Until you know the real facts behind it" the officer replied somberly. The elevator doors opened in front of them. The officer selected the lobby button as they stepped in and then motioned to the controls. "It's hard to see in that video clip but if you look at the buttons she had pushed now you can see she had also pushed the hold door button. That's why the doors never closed." The officer smiled down at his companion. "And for what it's worth - your brothers were dicks for trying to scare you with that vid."

Ella laughed. "That's probably true - though I think I called them a few other names in Spanish that were much more descriptive." She sighed. "Still - it was pretty odd when you first watched it. I heard a podcast later that explained the inconsistencies of the facts being reported on the Web."

"Too bad that didn't come around in time to take the heat off that death metal musician the internet sleuths were sure had killed her" the officer snarled. "Mob mentality at its finest. Guy wasn't even in the country but that didn't stop some amateur sleuths from hounding him into a mental asylum."

Elle shuddered. "I hadn't heard about that. Guess I was more interested in the case evidence than in what people were speculating had happened. Still - you can't blame some people for being interested. I wasn't as though she was the first death in this place. There had even been a couple of pretty notorious serial killers who had hung out here."

The officer shrugged. "The place has been here since the 1920's. Only seems reasonable that there would be a few deaths in the place. And being right up against skid row didn't help. It's just an old building with a the bad luck to attract people with issues. Makes it a good target for story tellers and journalists with nothing much to say. Places can't be evil - but people can be. The building didn't kill our latest vic - someone with a gun did."

"Place can't be evil" Ella repeated softly as the doors opened into the ornate lobby. "But people can be. And maybe someplace like the Cecil just makes the darkness in them .... acceptable."


	3. Brothers in conversation

Chloe nodded towards the group of “residents” from the older part of the hotel who were grouped around the front door. “Funny thing – I thought I had heard the hotel had been sold again and was being renovated. Yet there still seems to be a lot of folks living there that don’t fit with the image the lobby presents.”

“It was sold” Lucifer replied with a bored tone. “But your mortal legal system has made things quite difficult for the new owners – especially in regards to the riff-raff who call the Cecil home. Seems it’s proving quite difficult to evict them – and without that the rest of the plans will continue to be nothing more than a pipe dream. And it didn’t help that they floated an absurd plan to put in a swimming pool on the roof – right near where that last human was found dead. And you lot call me soulless.” He squinted at the entrance then smiled. “Oh look – it’s Ms. Lopez. Does that mean we can move on to our next port of call?”

The detective sighed. Ever since he's returned from Hell (something he has studiously avoided talking about) he had been back to the "old" Lucifer - the one who seemed not to feel much of anything about anyone but her. It was disconcerting at best but Linda had reassured her that it was probably her partner's way of coping with being forced to return to the prison of the damned he had always hated. And with being pulled out of it without much warning. "I'll have to step carefully around him for a while" she thought to herself , waving to Ella. "Maybe Linda can give me some pointers on how to help he readjust to humanity."

She tapped Lucifer on the arm gently. "I need to check in with Elle and see if she found anything in the victim’s room – then we can head out to Mr. McIntyre’s office.” Chloe moved quickly across the street towards the forensic technician, leaving the angelic brothers alone again.

“Lucifer – I noticed…” Amenadiel began, his eyes scanning the sidewalk for the odd figure he had noticed before. 

“The homeless wanker with the cart” Lucifer replied, watching his detective as she consulted with Ms. Lopez about the case. “What about him?”

“There was something off about him” the angel said with a shrug. “Just wondering…”

“If any of my little demons followed me up from Hell after Dad “allowed” me parole?” the Devil replied with a sneer, bitterness in every word. “No – my guess is that one was human, maybe one of the regulars who make the streets around here their home. Or maybe it was one of our lesser brethren who took a wrong turn on their way back to the Silver City.” He peered down the street at the individual, watching as he and his squeaky cart disappeared around the corner. “I’d put money on the latter.”

“How can you tell that it isn’t one of yours?” Amenadiel whispered.

“I can tell” he sniffed. “Even hidden inside a meat suit I can still tell. And besides – after that LAST little gathering of my subjects, no one is likely to be stupid enough to walk right in front of me no matter how unfortunate the human they are possessing might be.“ The smile he flashed at his angelic brother was all teeth and no warmth, leaving a coldness between the two. “And as I recall – not all our angelic siblings were more than foot soldiers for dear old Dad. Many were created almost in an assembly line with no real purpose in mind other than he needed a warm body with little to no talent on anything other than being in the right place in the right time to watch over his latest pets.” He nodded towards where the being had disappeared. “Care to make a wager on which it is?”

“Thanks but no” Amenadiel said slowly. “Making a bet with you never works out well. But it did seem he was very interested in what was going on in front of the hotel.”

“Probably the most excitement that didn’t include illicit narcotics or heavenly rapture he’s experienced in a while.” Lucifer shrugged, closing off the conversation as Chloe returned to them. “Did Ms. Lopez find anything interesting?”

“Nothing” Chloe replied in frustration. “No laptop, no cellphone, nothing to explain why he chose this hotel from the hundreds of establishments all around the city to make a reservation in. She’ll head back to the coroner’s office with the body and collect his belongings – clothes, wallet, watch, etc… - and see what she can come up with from them.”

Lucifer straightened and gave his brother a slight push. “So … where are we going now?”

“Vic’s office” Chloe replied, looking up at Amenadiel. “Sorry – wish we had more time to chat...”

“No problem” Amenadiel said, his eyes still riveted on the corner of the building. “Maybe I’ll see you at Lux tonight?”

“Maybe” Chloe replied, glancing in the direction the towering angel was watching. She glanced over at Lucifer who was studiously avoiding looking in the same direction as his brother. “Something you two want to share with me?”

“Not really” they said in unison.

Chloe sighed. “I was afraid of that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said in a previous note - not feeling the whole "Michael" storyline so going to leave this kind of vague. At least for a while. Luci went back to Hell but now he's back. Maybe get back to the how and why later.


	4. Event continue

Back at the Crime Scene

He walked slowly on the sidewalk, carefully guiding the shopping cart with the wonky wheel around onlookers, uniformed officers and others who were regulars on the street. No one looked at him, no one paid any attention at all to the figure shuffling along unless it was to tell him to move onto the street and get out of everyone’s way. Shrouded in layers of clothing – most of whom were patched and worn – the figure was almost impossible to describe. The face, with its curtain of long, greasy hair, was unidentifiable. Race was impossible to tell as every piece of skin was covered in one way or another. Not that anyone wanted to look closely enough to see who this might be wheeling all their possessions down the street in front of the notorious Cecil Hotel. The homeless on skid row were invisible to anyone not wanting to take advantage of their weaknesses or trying to help lift them out of their own personal hell. Most of the uniformed officers were accustomed to not “seeing” the retched people who made their home on the street – unless they created a problem for those few law abiding folks unfortunate enough to find their way downtown. It was just another day on Skid Row.

The figure carefully wheeled its cart of possessions around the block, stopping at the opposite end from where the crime had been discovered. Patiently parking the cart behind a dumpster, the person waited until the presence of officers and the curious bystanders had thinned to nothing before approaching the spot where the body had been found, eyes darting quickly around mounds of trash the police had nudged but not sifted through. It didn’t take long to find it – a single piece of folder paper jammed under a broken step. Carefully unfolding the page, damp with the blood of the murdered man, the figure nodded as the face on what was obviously a missing person’s flyer was revealed. The picture of a pretty, teenage girl with café au lait skin and brown eyes framed by curls looked back at the observer with a slightly devilish grin. “Annalise” a voice muttered as the page was carefully re-folded and stuck in a pants pocket. Then the figure stepped back into the shadows, abandoning the cart and all its random contents and disappeared down the street, leaving the others on Skid Row to find a use for the cart and its contents. He had found what he had come for.

On the street Amenadiel watched for a few more minutes, waiting to see if the character he had noticed came back out of the alleyway, then shrugged and started back through the throng of on-lookers, headed for Linda’s office. He didn’t notice the ragged figure, now walking with a confident gait, in the opposite direction of the hotel.

The drive to Bradley industries main offices was unusually quiet. Lucifer, for once, wasn’t bouncing from subject to subject trying his best to get Chloe’s attention. The detective was also silent, trying to find a way to broach the subject of the Hotel and its history with her partner without encroaching on his “unusual” background.

“Lucifer” Chloe began, eyes fixed on the road, “what do you know about our crime scene?”

“Besides the fact that the Cecil and its occupants have the worst luck imaginable?” Lucifer replied.

“Is it just bad luck?” Chloe asked.

“Just ask me, Detective, we both know you want to.”

Chloe sighed. “Is there something about the Cecil I should be mindful of?”

“In other words – is it a gateway to Hell?” Lucifer’s voice took on a mocking tone as he looked over at the woman behind the wheel. “Really, detective, I would have thought after all your conversations with that priest in Rome...”

Chloe glanced quickly over at her passenger. “Where did you hear about that?” she asked grimly.

“I have my sources” Lucifer replied. “The wanker’s name was Father Kinley, wasn’t it? Told you I was responsible for all the evil in the world – never mind the fact that mankind was very good about coming up with ways to do evil all on their own.”

Chloe sighed. “Look – I listed to the guy for a while. Then I fell back onto what I do best – being an investigator. I checked him out and found out even the Vatican wanted nothing to do with his crazy stories. I’ll admit – I’m not comfortable with knowing who and what you are. But I’m trying, Lucifer, I really am. Can’t we just go with that and move on?”

Lucifer shrugged. “There isn’t anything specifically evil about the Cecil – at least nothing that would make it an express elevator to and from Hell. It started out quite the showplace with Art Deco entrance and comfortable accommodations. It started to go downhill during the Depression and never quite stopped the slide. And now, as any good real-estate person would tell you, its location is dragging what little respectability it might have had down to the dirt.”

Chloe thought about his words for a moment, making a mental note to do some research on the hotel. “Someone died there when I was still in uniform. I remember it was a really big deal – and then it wasn’t.”

“Young woman” Lucifer replied in a bored tone. “Drowned herself in the water tanks on the roof. Wouldn’t have been such an issue except for the CCTV footage from an elevator she was in just before she disappeared. Get your spawn to Google it for you. The details are quite interesting – for about a nanosecond.”

Chloe sighed. “I’ll get Dan to run the search. We’ll need to talk to the new owners anyway – maybe they have some idea what an accountant from a major hedge fund company was doing slumming in their about to be renovated establishment.”

“Slumming?” Lucifer responded with a snort.

Once at the victim’s office things became sticky. Lucifer eyed the well-dressed receptionist at the entrance to Bradley Industries office for a moment, assessing what it would take to seduce her. "Well, well! This case might have just gotten interesting." He smiled appreciative as the young woman eyed this odd pairing of an expensively dressed consultant and his LAPD detective cohort.

"We really need to talk to someone about John McIntyre" Chloe asked, slightly exasperated. She had been given the run-around by any number of secretaries and personal assistants before but for whatever reason this woman’s tone was rubbing her the wrong way. Between the image of the crime scene and her conversation with Lucifer on the ride here her normal calm was hanging by a thread and this woman’s tone was the last straw. 

"Mr. Bradley is in his office and will be able to speak to you momentarily" the young woman repeated calmly, motioning towards the elevator behind her. "Someone should be coming down to escort you up in a moment." 

Chloe wondered, briefly, if that was ALL she knew to say, like a robot programmed with only one response. “I was told Mr. McIntyre’s wife was already here. Can you at least see if we can talk to her?”

“My sister is in the break room” a twangy voice called out. A young man in a cheap imitation of an expensive business suit walked towards them, a smile plastered on his face. “My name is James Milton. John is my brother-in-law. The maid at their house called me and said the police were trying to locate my sister Millie. Has something happened?”

Chloe held out a hand. “Det. Chloe Decker. Mr. Milton I’m sorry to tell you that your brother-in-law was found murdered behind a hotel downtown. I’m sorry for your loss.”

Lucifer’s eyes strayed back to the receptionist who was now openly preening. “Yes – truly sad state of affairs. Did you know him?”

The receptionist blushed prettily. “Mr. McIntyre was a very polite person. Kept mostly to himself when he was at work. I think I’ve only said a few words to him in all the time I’ve been here.”

Milton glared at the woman behind the desk for a moment then stared back at Chloe. “Do you know who did this terrible thing to John?”

“Not yet” Chloe replied. “His body was only found a few hours ago. I was hoping to talk to either someone here or his family to find out why he was staying at the Cecil and who he might have been there to meet.”

Milton shrugged. “My brother-in-law had this strange obsession with that hotel. He and his “friends” online talked about it all the time. Maybe you should talk to one of them?”

“If he has online contacts with information I’ll need to see his computer or home laptop. Is there any way that can be arranged” Chloe glanced at the closed elevator doors, resigned to the fact that no one was coming to escort them upstairs anytime soon. She wondered, briefly, if she was going to have to push to get access to the victim’s office or if her history with Pierce might come back to make things even more awkward then they already were.

“I’m sure it can be arranged” Milton purred, “just as soon as you get a warrant.”

Lucifer finally took a good look at the young man in front of him, frowning at his bad fashion sense. “Isn’t that a bit – unhelpful? After all, the detective is trying to find out who killed your brother-in-law – and why?”

Milton looked up and flinched at the steely look in Lucifer’s eyes. “Sorry – but James often did company work at home so some of his files would be proprietary to the organization. I’m sure Mr. Bradly would agree…”

“Mr. Bradley would NOT agree” a deep voice called out. An older man approached the group, his cell phone in his hand. “Detective? I’m Don Bradley and this is my company. I’ve just been informed by a friend in the District Attorney’s office of this tragedy. You have our complete cooperation – anything you need – starting with James’s office. Please follow me.” He swept past them, stuffing his cell in his pocket as he swiped a card over a pad and summoning a private elevator. 

“Interesting” Lucifer murmured as he hurriedly followed Chloe.

“Very” she agreed, watching the elevator doors close.


	5. Annalise

Lucifer glanced over at Milton who had slid in to the elevator behind him. “So – Mr. Milton is it? What do you do for this company?”

Milton frowned, his eyes riveted to the closed door. “I’m part of the company’s external relations office” he replied stiffly.

“You are?” Bradley responded. “Wasn’t aware we still had one. I thought I’d fired the lot of you after the LAST time you made my company – and family – look bad in the press. ”

“I was hired after that” Milton admitted, a dull red flush covering his cheeks.

Chloe glanced over at her partner, watching Lucifer as he eyed the two men in front of him without much interest. “How long had Mr. McIntyre worked for your firm?”

Bradley cocked his head as he thought. “About a year. My last forensic accountant had a stroke and had to retire. McIntyre’s wife was a sorority sister of my wife’s so she suggested I look at his resume. He seemed … adequate. Trainable. So I took a chance on him and brought him onboard.”

“Any idea why he was at the Cecil?” Chloe asked, watching as the floor numbers flickered above her.

‘I’m not even sure I know where this place is” Bradley admitted with a shrug. “Certainly not a place we would put up our high end clients.”

The elevator doors slid open silently and the older man strode quickly out ahead of the group, headed for a set of doors to the right. They passed what appeared to be an empty room containing a fancy microwave, several vending machines and comfortable looking sofas. Chloe glanced in the open door with a frown. “I thought you said your sister was in the break room” she said as she sped up to keep up with Bradley.

“She was” Milton replied coldly.

“Well she’s not there now” Chloe pointed out with an edge to her voice. “So where is she?”

“I have a funny feeling your about to find out, Detective” Lucifer responded, pointing to an open door labeled with the victim’s name. The sound of a paper shredder flowed out into the quiet hall, disturbing the eerily silence. 

Chloe slammed the door open, skidding to a stop in the center of the office. “Stop!”

The woman across the room from her, a mousy brunette, ignored her command and continued to feed page after page into the shredder in front of her. Her dark hair was held up in a prim bun and her bland knee-length dress and sensible shoes made Chloe’s wardrobe choices look like the height of fashion. Lucifer moved to the wall beside the shredder and pulled the power cord out of the outlet, watching with interest as the woman tried futilely to bring the machine back to life. “Mrs. McIntyre, I presume? I don’t think you’re going to do much without power, do you?”

The woman glared at him as she tried to drag the page out of the shredder. “Who are you and what are you doing in my husband’s office?”

“Det. Decker, LAPD Homicide” Chloe responded coldly waving a hand towards her companion. “My consultant, Mr. Lucifer Morningstar.”

“You don’t have the right to be here” the woman muttered, crumpling the pages she had pulled from the shredder in her hands.

Bradley stood beside Chloe, a look of annoyance on his face. “Considering this is MY Company I have every right to be here as does Det. Decker. I think, however, a better question would be what are YOU doing here?” The company owner glanced briefly over at his employee who had come to a stop beside him. “Milton, I’m assuming this wretched creature is McIntyre’s wife. What is she playing at?”

“Candice” Milton muttered, eyes dropping to the floor. “I don’t understand…. I thought we agreed you would let me handle things.”

“No – you agreed. I never did. I had to make this all disappear before anyone could see…” she glanced down at her hands, her fingers flexing reflectively. “I had to clean up his mess – just like always.”

“What mess are you talking about, Mrs. McIntyre?” Chloe asked, glancing briefly at Lucifer – who had quietly walked up to the deceased man’s wife and easily pried the pages out of her clenched fists. “What was your husband involved in that you didn’t want anyone to find out about?” Walking up to the desk, Chloe glanced at the files quickly, noticing none were on the hedge fund company’s letterhead. Most appeared to be copies of emails or screen shots of websites dealing with the Cecil Hotel.   
Lucifer looked down at the pages he had retrieved from the wife with a frown. “Detective…” he said, holding out one that had not been as damaged as the others. “It looks like Mr. McIntyre may have thought the Cecil had claimed another victim.”

Chloe glanced at the page, a missing person notice concerning a 17 year old college student by the name of Annalise Gibson. The poster, heartbreaking in its simplicity, was obviously made by family or friends looking for the young woman and had the number of the LAPD Missing Persons unit and the name of a Jerry Gibson as contacts. “I’ll need to contact that unit and see who’s assigned to her case. This Jerry Gibson, maybe her father?” She turned to Bradley and held out the flyer. “Look familiar?”

Bradley looked at it and shrugged. “Not really. But I see a lot of pretty young women - my wife is still seriously involved with charity events put on by her sorority.”

Chloe looked down at the page, wondering why it was the Bradley’s off-hand mention of his wife’s sorority sounded so off. “It looks like most if not all of the pages on his desk are NOT related to your business ventures. I’ll need to get a warrant for access to his home and business laptop but until that comes in I’d like your permission to go ahead and make a start on these documents.” She pulled her cell from her pocket and turned away from the group. “I’ll get Dan on it.”

Bradley smiled thinly. “Allow me to volunteer this office for your inquiry until your legal documents arrive. Please, make yourself at home, detective. I’ve nothing to hide.”

“I’m sure he doesn’t” Lucifer thought to himself, pulling a chair out for himself and settling in the darkest part of the brightly lit office. “But can the other two say the same?” He leaned forward in his seat and caught Milton’s eyes as the nervous man started to back towards the door. “Mr. Milton, one quick question before you run off – What is it you truly desire?”

Milton stopped dead in his track. “I…”he stuttered. “I want…I want…”

“Yes?” Lucifer purred, his patented shark-like smile beaming at his victim.

“I… wish John had never heard of Annalise or the Cecil” he stopped, appalled by the words tumbling from his mouth.

“So…” Chloe said quietly, leaning back on the desk. “It’s about this missing girl – and that hotel. What else is it about?”

“Yes – what other nasty little secrets are you hiding in that head of yours Milton?” Lucifer leaned back into his chair his eyes shifting from the now unnerved young man to his too calm sister. “And you, Mrs. McIntyre? Care to join in? What do you truly desire?”

Candice McIntyre glanced briefly at the shredder with a frown. “I wish I’d never married John. He’s been nothing but misery since the wedding. Can’t even die without causing a scene.”

Chloe and Lucifer exchanged glances. “This might be a very short investigation” Lucifer sighed.

“Or not” Chloe replied with a frown.

Linda Martin’s home

Amenadiel glanced into Linda’s home with a smile. His partner, and mother of his child, was sitting on the floor with Charlie playing with Legos. “I guess there was a break in your schedule?”

Linda looked up with a smile. “One of my regular’s cancelled. He and his family are going to Cancun for vacation. So I thought it would be good time to spend some quality time with my favorite little man.”

The baby looked up at his parents with a toothless grin, waving a toy in the air. His baby sounds would eventually evolve into words and conversation but right now only he knew exactly what it was he wanted them to know.

“Caught up with Luci at a crime scene” Amenadiel said, sinking into his favorite sofa with a sigh. “I was hoping he and Chloe would be in a better head space now. It’s been over a year since Cain’s death and Chloe realizing that Lucifer was exactly who he said he was. I kind of hoped that by now…”

Linda rose from the floor, baby in her arms, and took a seat beside her partner. “It was a lot for her to take in – and that lunatic priest she met in Rome didn’t help matters much.” She glanced over at the attractive angel at her side. “Do you know what might have happened to him? Chloe told me a while ago that she contacted a friend working in Rome and they couldn’t track him down.”

Amenadiel shivered. “Azrael took him to his final rest shortly after Chloe left the city. Seems his fanaticism had rung some warning bells with not only the Vatican but with some police agencies around Europe. Seems he had “influenced” some true believers to try to keep evil at bay by ending the lives of people they believed were not worthy of the love of God. Rome police had him under surveillance when he met with a young seminary student they believed had been responsible for the murder of a number of prostitutes - women Kinley had convinced him were demonically possessed. According to what Azrael said – the seminarian and Father Kinley were caught trying to “exorcise” the demon from a poor street child’s body when the police piled in. Kinley took a slug to the chest, died instantly.” Amenadiel smiled grimly. “He was quite surprised when Azrael dropped his ass off at the gates of Hell instead of the Silver City.”

Linda shivered slightly. “Most true believers would be. They are so sure of the rightness of their cause the fact that they might be on the wrong side of the argument never occurs to them.” She cuddled the baby close, watching him wrap his chubby fingers around her finger. “Chloe will get comfortable with this new reality eventually. So will Lucifer.”

Amenadiel wrapped an arm around his partner, smiling down at the little Nephilim in its mother’s arms. “Probably.” 

“So tell me about the crime scene” Linda probed curiously.

“It was strange – a murder at the Cecil Hotel. I’m assuming you’ve heard about it?”

Linda thought about it for a moment then frowned. “Hotel downtown near Skid Row where that Canadian tourist died? I remember it was in all the news for ages.”

“Yeah – that’s the one. Body found in the alley next to the hotel. Seems the vic had rented a room there though no one knows why?”

Linda shifted the baby slightly in her arms. “It’s a hotel on Skid Row. People die there all the time. Why is this one different?”

“Because the victim is an accountant for a wealthy firm with no visible connection to the hotel.” Amenadiel frowned as he replayed the events of the morning in his head. “There was something else too – something Luci waved off but I can’t quite forget.”

“What” Linda asked.

“There was a homeless person pushing a shopping cart in front of the hotel while the police were processing the scene. There was just something about that guy. At least I think it was a guy – kind of hard to tell with the baggy clothes they were wearing. Something about him just didn’t quite… fit.”

“Was he Celestial – or Demonic?” Linda said, wondering when it was exactly that asking that type of question has ceased to sound insane to her.

“Neither” Amenadiel admitted. “Human – but something about his was odd. I just can’t quite figure out how.”

“Where are Lucifer and Chloe now?”

“Gone to the victim’s office to see if anyone there knows why he was at the Cecil.” Amenadiel glanced over at Linda’s laptop on the table. “I wonder…”

“Want to do a little web snooping while we wait for Lucifer to tell all?” Linda laughed. “Go ahead – but you’ll have to do the searching. Your son appears to have gone down for his nap and I’m not inclined to disturb him.”

Amenadiel smiled. “I can do that” he whispered, rising to retrieve the laptop. He typed as quietly as he could both the name of the victim Chloe had mentioned and the Cecil and watched as numerous extraneous and useless pages came up, detailing the history of the hotel and all its tragedies.

“Use the Advanced search and put the victim’s name in quotes so the search engine looks for it as a phrase instead of separate words” Linda suggested, peering at the screen intently. 

The angel started his search again, using his partner’s suggestions. A webpage for a group calling themselves “Web sleuths” came up with a message from the victim immediately visible. ‘Better” Amenadiel said, reading the message from the dead man with a frown. “I think I’m going to need to get with Chloe and Lucifer on this.”

“Why?” Linda said, trying to read the tiny print on the screen.

“Because it looks like their dead man was searching for someone who disappeared at the hotel almost a week ago – someone named Annalise. I have a bad feeling that search maybe what got him killed.”


End file.
